by Chase | How To, Kid Min, Student Min
With TVs being inexpensive, many businesses are opting to use them to scroll announcements. Bulletin boards are a thing of the past. Printed flyers are becoming obsolete.
Setting a TV up to scroll announcements is easier than you would think. Most companies are not big enough to have a tech department and are trying to save money by having someone on staff set up the system. And if you are under the age of 35 then “tech consultant” is typically added to your job description.
Last year our church installed 5 flat screen TVs that scrolled announcements in strategic locations around our building. This was a major jump from the bulletin and bulletin-board driven culture that we had.
After a ton of conversations and Googling, we found a simple way to install the TVs so that we can utilize them for scrolling announcements.
What you will need
Here is how to set up an announcement TV
- Pick a High-Traffic Area
- If you are going to spend money on a new announcement system, make sure it is located in a high traffic area. For  a church this would be your welcome center, front entrance, nursery, kids ministry area, and student ministry area.
- Ensure Your Wifi Connection Is Strong
- Once you have picked your area, make sure that you have a strong enough wifi connection for that area. If your internet connection is weak you will need to run an additional hotspot to get a strong connection where you want to mount the TV. No internet = no announcements.
- Secure the TV Mount To The Wall
- When you are ready to mount your TV first figure out the height of your screen. Too high and it will be hard to read by people as they pass. Too low and you will constantly be clearing finger prints off of the screen.
- Once you secure the wall mount I suggest installing a receptacle directly behind the TV so power cables will be hidden from view. The area will look better and people will not accidentally unplug the cords.
- If this can’t be done, then there are some cable hiders online.
- Reminder: The power cord to the Apple TV isn’t long, so make sure the receptacle is close enough to plug it in.
- Attach Apple TV
- Once you take the Apple TV out of the box use some Command velcro strips to stick the Apple TV to the back of the TV.
- Use wire ties to tie up the power and HDMI cables to keep them from hanging down. Â
- Setup Apple TV
- Use the remote to set up your Apple TV. Tutorial here.
- Set your Apple TV up using a secured wifi network. If your Apple TV is on a guest account, anyone can access the Apple TV.
- Setup Flickr Account
- Flickr is an online photo album that will enable your team to upload and manage pictures and photo albums.
- Your announcements will simply be slides (JPEG) that you can create in your favorite design program and upload into Flickr.
- My suggestions is that you create an album for each TV so you are able to control which pictures show for different demographics (i.e. kids area, welcome center, front entrance).Â
- Connect Apple TV to Flickr Account
- Now that you have Apple TV setup and a Flickr account, you will need to open the Flickr App on the Apple TV.
- The screen will display a set code that you will need to type into your Flickr account.
- Simply go to the link (www.flickr.com/appletv) and input the code.
- Run Slideshow From An Album
- Congrats, you are connected!
- Using the Apple TV remote, click “albums” and then “start slideshow”
- The slideshow will give you the option to pick a variety of transitions. Remember, less is better. A simple fade to the next slide is sufficient.
Do you have another way of setting up announcement TVs?
by Chase | How To, Kid Min, Student Min
Is there anything better than playing games?
Games are an integral part of any ministry. Kids love running their energy out and students enjoy non-threatening moments to be goofy. If done well, games can bring Bible lessons to life and add an experiential element that most Bible studies lack.
While everyone plays games, there is definitely an art to lead effective games. Trust me, if the leader is not a strong communicator, fun, and willing to be crazy, the students and kids will not participate. Great game leaders are prepared to lead once the kids arrive.
I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but below are some tips I have picked up over the 10 years I was involved in camping/retreat ministry. By the way, these tips work for kid and student ministry. I use the word “kid” just to make the read easier.
8 Awesome Tips For Leading Games
Safety First
If all your kids end up in the hospital, no one gets to have fun. You go from having fun to sitting beside a sit old man in the ER who won’t stop coughing on you. But seriously, if a kid get hurt because of an oversight on your part, the parent will not let the kid come back. That means you have lost opportunities to share Jesus with that family. Safety is the most important aspect of game facilitation. Never play a game that will sacrifice safety.
Always “Look In” On a Game
Look at all games as if you were a parent/teacher/principal. “Head-lock Tag” might be fun, but it looks like all the kids are being bullied. (NEVER play “Head-lock Tag”) If the game looks like kids are ganging up on a few kids, odds are a parent might get upset. Best thing to do is to step back and ask, “What would a parent think if they walked in right now?”
Never Play the Same Game Twice
Keep variety in your planning.  Make sure the game is a positive spot in their mind, not the reoccurring norm. If you need some ideas, funninja.org is awesome.
Don’t Use Tons of  “Out” Games
The more games that you play were kids get “out” means the more kids you have standing around with nothing to do but get in trouble. Try to involve as many kids as you can as long as you can.
Be Creative
Relate games to your theme. Change up the supplies needed to bring a theme alive in the games.
Participate, Participate, Participate
If you don’t think the game is fun or worth while, why would the kids?
Practice Leading the Game
Make sure your volunteers know the rules/explanation of the game before kids arrive.  That way you can ensure directions are clear and concise for everyone. “Without clear game instructions, the children perish.” I’m pretty sure that is in the Bible somewhere.
Excitement/Energy/Enthusiasm
They are all contagious! At the very least, you should enjoy yourself. If YOU are having fun, I promise that the kids will enjoy themselves.
Now What?
What are some other tips you have for leading awesome games?
by Chase | Kid Min, Student Min
“Am I already home?”
Chances are, you have asked this question before as you have driven into your driveway after a long day at work. Perhaps we were mentally consumed with a problem or just singing along with the radio, but the truth is that we can’t remember ANYTHING about our drive home! It isn’t that you are a horrible driver. You slipped into autopilot.
Truth is, you often operate by autopilot with your family, job, and relationship with Jesus.
At the end of the day we are left wondering, “What did I do today??”
Another way to describe autopilot is with the idea of muscle memory.
Muscle memory is a stored physical response that you draw upon when the time is right. Think about a golf swing – thousands of practiced swings compound into the next swing as the golfer seeks to swing perfectly each time.
For a while, our family ministries have operated on autopilot. Much of what we do is out of muscle memory – our processes, events, and programs.
Now, muscle memory is not a bad thing! The goal is to make great habits second nature. But often, we pickup inefficiencies or take shortcuts and it starts to negatively affect our muscle memory. Great athletes and artists have perfected muscle memory to hone their skills. Michael Jordon worked on the fundamentals of basketball daily to perfect his game.
For ministries and discipleship groups, we often forget about the fundamentals – meeting people, maintain our personal walk with Jesus, being intentional with visitors, striving to offer clear communication.In a rush to do more ministry, we tend to neglect the foundations that support solid groups.
Before you start planning your next quarter, your group or ministry should take some time and discover who you are, what God wants your group to be, and how you will operate.
Here are a few questions you can pass along to your group or ministry and get the conversation started:
- If we had unlimited funds, volunteers, and resources, what would God want us to do?
- In what ways has your personal spiritual life fallen into a negative cycle? Pray that God will reveal to you how you should break the negative habits you have developed.
- What were opportunities the group failed to capitalize on last year? (This could be as simple as following up with absentees…)
- What are the needs of our community – physically, emotionally, and spiritually? How can/are we meeting needs to provide an avenue for people to meet Jesus?
Now What?
These are a few questions to kick around and get the conversation started. Retraining you ministry’s muscle memory will only happen when you engage the entire group in conversations about where God is leading your team.
by Chase | Kid Min, Leadership, Student Min
Resolutions, goals, or whatever you may call them are about to blow up your newsfeed and conversations.
Your friends and co-workers will be talking about losing weight, saving money, or how they want to learn conversational Pig Latin (I tried a few years ago but sadly gave up).
Now, this post is not about how to keep a resolution. For information about that, Michael Hyatt has great content and insight to help you with that, like this post about the persistence needed to reach your goals.
This is less about how you should accomplish a goal and more about which goals you should be thinking about as a ministry leader.
Last year you made several mental notes about what shifts need to be made during your small group, the changes needing to happen for next year’s camp, and how you can spread the Gospel to more people.
Brainstorming can be exhausting. Thinking about everything that needs to be tweaked and the scores of people who need a little TLC every now and again can make you anxious, overwhelmed, and fearful that change will ever happen.
As you survey last year’s small group, ministry, or event, here are a few resolutions every ministry leader needs to make this coming year:
3 Essential Resolutions for Ministry Leaders
Daily – Connect With Jesus
Let’s be honest, your spiritual life is not perfect. Ministry is a tricky beast to tackle. On one hand, you do have a responsibility to put in the best work that you can to help the ministry or group you lead. But on the other hand, you are serving King Jesus.
He has promised to be your strength, wisdom, guide, and provider.
When we lose sight of Jesus and our spiritual disciplines lack, we tend to lose focus in our ministry positions.
If nothing else, this year you should plan to be closer to Jesus than you have ever been in your life. Remember, the point is not to maintain a perfect bible-reading plan; the point is to maintain connection with the perfect Savior, Jesus.
Weekly – Communicate With People
Often we are so rushed to maintain programs that we neglect investing in people.
Why don’t you make it your aim to personally communicate with one person per week?
I’m not talking about a weekly leaders email or parent newsletter (you should continue doing those things, though).
I’m suggesting that you pick up a pen and write an encouraging, personal note to one person per week. If not an encouraging note, you can pick up the phone and call someone midweek just to check in and pray for him or her.
There are creative ways to communicate with people. Make sure that you are investing quality time encouraging your parents, volunteers, and leaders.
Monthly – Care For Your Community
When is the last time you have taken an off day to serve your community?
I’m not talking about a church-sponsored community event that you led or were expected to attend.
When was the last time you chose to use your precious time off to enrich someone else’s life?
Many church leaders serve only when they are on the clock. This year try serving once a month, in some capacity, when you are off the clock.
As we share the Gospel of Jesus outside church-sponsored events, the Gospel transforms our heart for the broken.
This coming year you will expect many parents, volunteers, and leaders to sacrifice their free time to help serve in some way.
Are you willing to make the same sacrifice to serve others?
Do you have any other resolutions ministry leaders should consider in the upcoming year?
by Chase | Kid Min, Leadership, Student Min
The Volunteer Project: Stop Recruiting. Start Retaining.
is a must read for church leaders who are responsible for volunteer management. Trust me, I do not receive a kick-back for endorsing this book — it is simply an essential resource for leaders.Â
Back in April a book caught my eye as I was walking by the bookstore at the Orange Conference.
The book, The Volunteer Project: Stop Recruiting, Start Retaining, looked too good to be true.
I mean, who can make that kind of claim? For the past 11 years I have worked in para-church organizations that have relied heavily on volunteers to run (and sustain) the ministries. Because volunteer management is a passion of mine, I bought the book without a second glance.
Over the past week, I finally picked The Volunteer Project up and read it. I know, I know, I didn’t read the book for 7 months… don’t judge me! In all seriousness, I wish I had this book available to me a decade ago.
The Volunteer Project: Stop Recruiting. Start Retaining. discusses a 4-part volunteer strategy aimed to retain and develop the volunteers you have. It is filled with ministry specific insight for training, recruiting, and retain volunteers to further your ministry’s mission and vision.
Darren Kizer (@darrenkizer), Christine Kreisher (@christinekreish) and Steph Whitacre (@StephWhitacre) did an amazing job creating a solid resource for ministry leaders.
As I read, I used the hashtag #volproject to live-tweet the book. You can head to the hashtag or visit the book’s website for more info.Â
Top Quotes From The Volunteer Project:
by Chase | Kid Min, Student Min
Adult volunteers must sit with the group.Â
I get it, students are intimidating.
Their culture and vocabulary shift every couple of weeks.
Kids aren’t that much easier either. Kids can’t seem to sit still long enough to notice that you are there.
Shoot, most adults are horrible at engaging in conversation with a person outside their friend group!
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of adult volunteers who attend midweek worship services, small groups, and kids worship and fail to connect with their groups.
Like I said, I completely understand. Most days it is easier to stand in the back of the room while the kids or student ministry service is happening. Leaders need to connect with other adults to see how their week has been, follow up with a prayer request, or just chat a bit around the coffee pot. Besides, the family pastor has it all under control.
Can I be frank for a moment? (Seeing as how I am the one writing, I will take your silence as permission to proceed.)
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Why would you attend a student worship service if you didn’t want to disciple students?
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Why would you serve in the kids ministry if you didn’t want to get in the floor and play with kids?
I’m not questioning your desire to connect with young people each week – we simply lose focus and create bad habits that separate us from the group.
So here is my encouragement for this week’s service:
Leader, sit with the group.Â
As an adult volunteer, you have just as much influence on a young person’s life as the family pastor has. You have been specifically gifted by God to build the kingdom of God.
The truth is that if you are not with your students, you will never lead them.
The best way to engage is to pull up a chair and sit beside a student.
5 Reasons You Should Sit With The Group Each Week:
(These reasons are interchangeable for both kid and student ministries.)
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They Come Back Week to Week
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When they know a leader, they feel cool and accepted.
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It Limits Distractions
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When you are sitting with them, they will not feel the liberty to act up and be loud.
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They Worship More Authentically When They See Adults Worship
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Many of our young people do not have parents who are in church. Seeing adults raise their hands and worship Jesus with all they have leaves a lasting impact.
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They Will Participate More
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If we are leading a game and the adult leaders are laughing, having a great time, and are engaged, young people will loosen up and participate more.
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They Will Bring Their Friends
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When they feel noticed, they will bring others into the mix.
What are some other ways that you engage with young people during programming? Â
